Newcastle complete signing of England goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley

Newcastle have completed the signing of Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope on a four-year deal.

The 30-year-old England international travelled to the north-east to undergo a medical and formally seal the transfer on Thursday after the two clubs had agreed a fee understood to be in the region of £10million.

Pope said:  “Now I’m here, I can’t wait to get started.

“The deal has taken a couple of weeks to come to fruition, but it got over the line really quickly and I’m delighted to be here and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it.”

Pope, who has eight England caps to his name, arrives at St James’ Park – where he will be reunited with former team-mate Chris Wood – having established himself as a redoubtable performer over his six years at Turf Moor, during which he made 141 league appearances for the Clarets.

He will provide stiff competition for current number one Martin Dubravka, with the Slovakia international having largely held sway over Karl Darlow – linked with a move away this summer – under Howe and predecessors Rafael Benitez and Steve Bruce.

Howe said: “Nick is an exceptional Premier League and international level goalkeeper, so I’m very pleased to be adding strong competition to a very important position.

“There has been a lot of interest in him from other clubs this summer, so I’d like to thank our owners and everyone behind the scenes for getting us ahead of the competition.

“I’m delighted he is joining us as we prepare for the exciting challenge ahead.”

A renowned shot-stopper, Pope kept nine Premier League clean sheets last season but could not prevent Burnley from slipping out of the top division.

His swift return to the top flight will do little harm to his chances of making Gareth Southgate’s